In 1970, two businessmen opened a then-cutting edge amusement park in Beech Mountain, North Carolina. Settled in the mountains, the recreation center was initially opened to keep local ski instructors and workers employed in the late spring months.
The Wizard of Oz, based on the book, not the film. In its heyday, the recreation center welcomed nearly 20,000 guests a day, who walked the Yellow Brick Road, hung out with the Tinman, Lion, Scarecrow and even the little munchkins. Debbie Reynolds even went to the recreation center's opening, according to the Daily Mail.
A fire demolished the Emerald City in 1976 and attendance gradually dwindled. The recreation center sat abandoned for a considerable length of time, until previous workers came back to the recreation center to memorialise their time together.
Land of Oz was constructed on North Carolina's Beech Mountain to keep local ski employees busy during summer months.
And after only 10 years of operation, the recreation center fell on harsh times, as indicated by its website. Its emerald gates closed, and vandals and trespassers turned into its only guests.
Presently, Land of Oz is legally open to the public once every year for an 'autumn in Oz' gathering to commend the enchantment that once was and still lives on at this frightful spot. It's likewise accessible to lease for weddings, social events and private visits.
Most of the time the theme park sits completely empty. Photographer Seph Lawless caught the hunting area for his new book, Bizarro which concentrates on deserted or abandoned theme parks around the globe and he added that Oz was an otherworldly place to visit.
It sits concealed on top of one of the highest mountain peaks in the eastern U.S., so being there was almost like entering another planet. It was strange and totally beautiful.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
